The Nudges of the Spirit

            In the First Book of Kings, in the ninth chapter is the story of Elijah fleeing from the wrath of Ahab and Jezebel after he defeated the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel.  He was terrified of what those two leaders might do to him, so he ran south to Horeb, the Mountain of God, also called Mount Sinai, where Moses had received the Ten Commandments.  Elijah found a cave and lodged there.  God spoke to him and told him to come outside. When he went out, Elijah heard a powerful wind, but God was not in the wind; there was then an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake; then a blazing fire, but God was not in the fire.  Then Elijah heard a still, small voice.  It was the voice of God speaking to him telling him how the Israelites would be preserved by the swords of the men whom Elijah would recruit, and how Elisha would emerge as the successor to Elijah.

            I’ve always loved the idea of God speaking in a still, small voice.  I think that is how it happens most of the time.  Think about it for yourself.  How has God spoken to you?  Is it with thunder and lightning, earthquakes, fire and flood?  Or is it mostly in the stillness of the night in your dreams?  For me it has been in quietness that I have heard the Lord speak to me.  It would be nice if the words were clear and direct, but mostly they aren’t.  They are mostly nudges in one direction or another and when I have listened to them, I have been richly blessed. 

            My movement into ordained ministry came this way.  I had been working as the program director of a television station that went bankrupt and I found myself out of a job.  I reached back into an old desire that I had to do the work of the church and I called my rector to see what he thought. That was the still, small nudge. We talked to the bishop and I was enrolled in Virginia Seminary the following September.  In the meantime, we sold our house, got an apartment in Alexandria, Virginia, moved our kids there and got ready for a new chapter in our lives.  Rosie found a job and we relocated.  When I look back on it, it seems like an awful lot happened in a very short period of time. It is also remarkable that there was general agreement between Rosie and me about what we were going to do.  I think that our kids might have a different view of it, but I know that God’s Spirit was instrumental in all of it.   I can’t pinpoint the exact words, or whatever it was that led to all of it.  It is as mysterious as all of God’s work is in the world.  I know that ordained ministry is what I am called to do.  When I say “called”, I mean it in a very specific way.  I know that I am called to do God’s work in this world, as we all are, but for me it is in this specific calling. 

            I mention all of this because this coming Sunday is the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down upon the twelve apostles who were still trying to find their way after the resurrection of their Lord Jesus.  The way that the story is told in the Acts of the Apostles is almost startling in its detail.  Tongues of fire came down on the heads of these followers of Jesus and they spoke in different tongues.  All of the people who were present heard them speak .in the language that they themselves understood.  People from all over the place heard the words spoken by these followers of Jesus.  Their first inclination was to think that they were drunk; but Peter said that they certainly weren’t drunk, it was only nine o’clock in the morning. He then went on to quote the Prophet Joel about the coming of the word of God in the last days.  It is an incredible story and it became the basis for the followers of the Christ reaching out to all of the nations of the world with the Good News of the gospel of Christ. 

                Pentecost is the beginning of a long season of the church.  From now until the beginning of Advent, we will hear stories of Jesus’ ministry and his work in the world.  In the Roman Catholic Church, this is called “ordinary time”.  But the beginning is incredible.  The coming of the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus when he left his disciples is an event of great note.  What I certainly can’t argue with is the presence of the Spirit in all of our lives.  How the Word of God is communicated to us is always mysterious.  I know from my own experience that it is a quiet, small voice that is easy to miss. It is only when I look back that I can see the little nudges that moved me in the direction that brought me to this day.  I thank God for these small messages.  They are messages that belong to God, not to me.  My responsibility is to do what I am called to do.  That is not always easy to see or to understand.  I need constantly to be open to the call of the Spirit.  That means a life of prayer and frequent times of silence.  It is only then that the still, small voice of God can be heard.